Cosmos continue to show bowls league improvement

Last week saw the resumption of bowling in the Evening League at Boston Indoor Bowling Club following the fortnight break over Christmas and New Year. There was plenty of action in both divisions to suggest that the campaigns will be competitive going into the spring. The match of the week in the Orchard Health Group Division One saw Cosmos take on A40, eight places above them in the league, and beat them 6-0. This means Cosmos have now taken 16 points from the last 18 available and have moved off the bottom of the table for the first time since September. Victory didn’t look likely, though, after they made a slow start on both rinks, soon trailing by 1-9 and 0-6. But then, they steadily worked their way back into the games to grab the lead and establish a margin for victory. Dave Fox, skip, with lead Mark Boswell and pin Barbara Pell, won 18-12, scoring 12 shots without reply over the last 8 ends. The second rink of Julie Coulson, Jean Thompson and skip Bob Thompson won 15-11, winning their last 9 ends by 11-2. Parthians beat Royal Mail 4-2, taking 2 points for the 26-8 win on Keith Nix’s rink and getting the extras for the shot aggregate. The second rink was won by the Mailers in dramatic style as they came back from 1-11 down to tie the scores with one end to go. Two shots on the last end gave them victory at 17-15. Skip Keith Sharp was ably supported by lead Jo Sharp, who had a fantastic game, and pin Alan Hill. The sad loss of Eastenders from this division was confirmed just before the break, so new leaders Invaders had no match as they were due to meet this week. Holland Fen, now second, faced Strollers and won 4-2. Les Feary skipped his rink to an 18-10 win, by virtue of their better start which gave then a ten shot lead after 12 ends. The other rink was tight for eleven ends before Strollers, with skip Andy Warne at the helm, pulled away to take a 9-shot lead, then hold on to win 22-19. Breakaways moved into third spot following their 6-0 win over Central. They got away to a good start on Neil Harrison’s rink and were never headed as they won 23-7. Central built a small early lead on the other rink before Michael Rymer’s team started to dominate the scoring to take the game 19-13. Central are now in last place on shot difference from Cosmos. IBC won both rinks against Nomads, both by narrow margins, to take all six points. Tied at 9-9 after 11 ends, Richard Pearson’s rink then pulled ahead to win 18-15. Dave Gill’s rink quickly built a 13 shot advantage on the other rink before Nomads started to gradually reduce the lead, shot by shot. Sadly, for them, the ends ran out and the final score was 17-14 to IBC. The surprise result in the T&B Containers Division Two saw bottom-placed Phantoms take two points off leaders Golfers with the win on Keith Brown’s rink. Having established an early lead, they held on as their opponents reduced the deficit, but eventually took the win 17-14. The second rink was a high scoring game, won well for Golfers and skip Ron Hulley, 30-16. The Burtons moved into second place outright by virtue of their 4-2 win over ninth-placed U3. The crux of Dave Bailey’s 17-10 win for Burtons was a burst of 12 unanswered shots scored in the middle third of the game, after U3 had made the pace early on. U3 got the better of the second rink, winning by a single shot, 16-15 for skip Jack Carr. Burtons started slowly, then recovered to take the lead momentarily, before U3 finished the game more strongly. Amateurs and Hotspurs both had 6-0 wins and are now placed third and fourth, separated only by shot difference. Against Vikings, Amateurs won well on Tony Nixon’s rink by 22-9. They were never headed on Mick Greet’s rink, but it was a closely fought game throughout, eventually won by 13-11. There was a similar pattern to the Hotspurs vs Dynamics match, with Neil Owen’s rink winning comfortably 21-10, while Mike Nelson’s rink maintained a small advantage over the closing ends to take it 15-12. Dynamics slipped to fifth as a result. Autos took 5 points off Shipmates to keep their hold on sixth place. They started well on Ivor Roberts’ rink and kept control to win 21-13. Shipmates were leading for most of the second game, but a spirited comeback by Autos saw a close finish, ending in a 14-14 draw. Another draw was the feature of the single rink contested by Vectors and Patriarchs. Vectors were quickly 0-10 down, then they showed plenty of grit and determination to win the next 12 ends 17-7, leaving the final score at 17-17.